Residents of Tetingi Village, Gayo Lues Still Awaiting Aid Funds from Ministry of Social Affairs and BNPB
Gayo Lues — Residents of Tetingi Village, Pantan Cuaca District, Gayo Lues Regency, Aceh, who became survivors of a flash flood are still awaiting the disbursement of financial assistance from the government through the Ministry of Social Affairs and the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB).
Tetingi Village Head Mahmud (41) stated during an interview that residents, who have all been affected, have yet to receive housing rehabilitation funds from BNPB or adaptive disaster assistance from the Ministry of Social Affairs, despite the damage assessment process being conducted shortly after the disaster occurred.
“This is for community assistance directly from BNPB because we have already submitted the data approximately a week after the disaster to the regional disaster management agency (BPBD) and BNPB,” said Mahmud.
Tetingi Village is home to 133 households with a total of 418 inhabitants, all affected by the flash flood that occurred on 26 November 2025. Of this number, 33 houses were swept away, whilst 42 others suffered severe damage and are no longer habitable, requiring demolition.
According to BNPB’s housing repair scheme, residents with severely damaged homes receive 60 million rupiah in assistance, moderately damaged homes receive 30 million rupiah, and lightly damaged homes receive 15 million rupiah.
Additionally, adaptive disaster assistance from the Ministry of Social Affairs includes living guarantee aid valued at 450 thousand rupiah per person for three months, housing supplies assistance worth 3 million rupiah per family, and social stimulus aid of 5 million rupiah per family.
However, Mahmud stated that to date, no funds have been disbursed to affected residents in his village. “As of now, no money of any kind has been disbursed by the government, not even a single rupiah has ever been released,” he said.
According to him, the government through BNPB is currently prioritising the construction of temporary shelters for affected residents, whilst housing rehabilitation funds and other assistance from the Ministry of Social Affairs and BNPB remain in process.
Nevertheless, residents continue to need essential assistance because the majority of the community’s economic activities have been disrupted by the disaster that struck the region. “Because many people are affected, earning income has become extremely difficult, so assistance is desperately needed by the community,” said Mahmud.
He added that the last food aid received by residents came from community donations and volunteers from Yogyakarta, which was distributed on 9 March 2026. Meanwhile, the last assistance from the regional government was received approximately one month ago in the form of rice aid distributed in stages.
“The amount is approximately 600 to 700 kilogrammes of rice with each distribution. The assistance is adjusted according to the number of households and inhabitants in our village, but it has been one month since the distribution from the ministry or agency, and there has been nothing else since,” he said.